A packed house at a domestic match on Friday heralds the first decisive strike against BCCI’s cricket hegemony.
Never before did a domestic match see so much crowd as the league gets off to a colourful start
CHANDIGARH: A packed house at a domestic match on Friday heralds the first decisive strike against BCCI’s cricket hegemony.
That the Chandigarh Lions beat the Delhi Jets in the inaugural match of the Indian Cricket League is just a postscript to the birth of what promises to be a tournament that will fundamentally alter the way the domestic game is packaged and projected in this country.
The biggest of domestic cricket’s stars have failed to attract crowds in Ranji matches for eons now. The BCCI had its own Twenty20 event at Mumbai this May, featuring the best eight domestic teams in a knock-out format.
With a possible spot in the India squad for the World Cup in South Africa, the players had a lot to play for. The fans, however, were just not made a part of the scheme, and the stands were bare even when the likes of Yuvraj Singh padded up to strut their stuff.
Sure, the ICL inaugural contest saw the likes of Chris Cairns and Marvan Atapattu prowling around, but the 6000-odd throats that cheered the opening shot against the BCCI were attracted more by the glitz that surrounds this event than by plain star value.
The build-up has been so acrimonious that there is, of course, a lot of curiosity attached to the ICL. The first day’s attendance would have also been boosted by the promise of Kareena Kapoor shaking her booty.
Weekend games being sold out is explicable too, for at Rs 150 a seat, this is the cheapest wholesome family entertainment going. Whether ICL also manages to pull in the numbers during the week will be the crucial ask in the coming days. The first day of the ICL has proved that the idea that domestic cricket can sell has come of age.
All that it needs is slick packaging, a format as exciting as Twenty20 and corporate financial muscle, all backed by clarity of vision.
As of now, prices must be kept low, but the ICL does have some of cricket’s regular sponsors tagging along. There is Foster’s, TVS, Spice, Provogue and Dabur. Each team has a title sponsor, and here there are fresh names like Rishi Cement and Bharatstudents.com, which reflect the tapping of smaller brands that cannot find a foothold in the bigger league.
The one place where the League falters, as of now, is the disconnect between the public and the majority of names in the teams. Nor is there enough of an attempt to introduce these relatively unknown players, who walk on and off the field with the crowd at times oblivious of just who they are and what their cricketing background is.
The bigger deal, of course, is that this is a show tailor-made for TV. A world-class panel of commentators and high production values, along with the explosive format of Twenty20 makes this quite a marketable product. The final call of course can only be taken when the curtain comes down on December 16. The opening, however, has been most impressive.
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